Lagerstroemia indica Summer Charm Tuscarora - Crape Myrtle

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Tuscarora' is another variety of Indian Lilacs from the Summer Charm series, gathering long-flowering bushes, resistant to the cold and less sensitive to Powdery Mildew. For more than six months, this plant, of a beautiful stature, carries long and large frothy clusters of a deep coral red, a colour never before seen in these plants. Summer Lilacs, sumptuous in summer, are also appreciated for their smooth, richly coloured bark, ornamental all year round, as well as their beautiful autumn colours. These bushes like heat but appreciate a little coolness in summer to support their flowering. This one will be sensational as a standalone in a small garden or in a pretty pot on the terrace.

The Lagerstroemia indica 'Tuscarora' is part of a series of hybrids carefully selected for their unprecedented colours, their floribundus, their hardiness and their lesser sensitivity to Powdery Mildew. They are the result of cross-breeding between the Lagerstroemia indica, originating from China, and the L.faurei, native to Korea and Japan. This variety is still little diffused in trade.

'Tuscarora' belongs to the Lythraceae family. This large bush develops into a small multi-trunk tree with a rounded crown, slightly spread out. Of a good size, it will reach about 5 m (16 ft 5 in) in height at ripeness, for a diameter of 3.50 m. Its growth is quite rapid. It chooses the beginning of July to start its flowering, which will continue until September. The long inflorescences, in ramified clusters, are composed of very numerous small flowers carried by fine pedicels. Each flower has five very undulate petals, whose texture recalls that of crepe. They are gathered in large panicles, at the end of the year's branches.

In 'Tuscarora', the inflorescences can measure up to 30 cm (11.8 in) long and 15 cm (5.9 in) wide. The floral buds are almost red and shiny, then they bloom widely into flowers of a deep coral pink, absolutely superb. The foliage, leathery and deciduous, is born bronze, then becomes dark green and shiny. It is composed of large ovate leaves, which take pretty orange or coppery hues in autumn, before falling. Finally, its bark is of all beauty, smooth, beige striate with grey, red-brown, peeling off in coloured plates (cinnamon, faded red, old pink, cream).

Indian Lilacs traditionally prefer the humid and hot climates to dry and windy climates. This is a small tree that, in its improved forms, deserves to be acclimated in colder zones, carefully choosing the variety and its location. Its hardiness and vigour allow it, like the new varieties of the Summer Charm series, capable of flowering in all our regions. It is in isolation, near the house, that you will be able to fully enjoy its generosity. It will look good in a bush bed or in a mixed flower hedge of different varieties and colours, or emerging from a mound of perennials. In autumn, it accompanies the equally colourful cotinus and deciduous spindle trees. In a large pot on the terrace, it puts on a show when the summer flowerings slacken. We have simply imagined a tricolour plant tapestry as a ground cover to highlight the Tuscarora Lilac: a weave of thymes (Thymus hirsutus, longicaulis, nitens), oregano and silver baskets will dress the base of its trunk, underline the beauty of its bark and reflect its beautiful flowering.

NB: Karl Von Linnaeus named this tree to honour his friend Magnus Von Lagestroem (1696 – 1759), who had sent it to him from India for identification. Originally, this tree was used to decorate Chinese temples. We would like to point out that this tree produces fruits that have a narcotic action in case of ingestion.